


Coming Home

by 29_WhiteLilies



Category: Rhett & Link
Genre: Hand Jobs, How Do I Tag, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, M/M, Sleepy Boys, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-27 05:46:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20943302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/29_WhiteLilies/pseuds/29_WhiteLilies
Summary: Rhett barely manages to throw the truck into park and pull the key from the ignition before he rushes up to the familiar house in a few long strides. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Rhett knows that his knocking probably sounds frantic but he doesn’t find it in him to care. Three weeks. Three long weeks without any contact with his best friend have taken their toll on him.





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. I'm new here and new to the entire fandom outside of AO3. I don't know how the hell it happened but somehow, I ended up writing this instead of doing (semi-)useful uni things... Help. 
> 
> Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any names and references to the lives of real human beings are merely used as a source of inspiration. Simply put: Holy crap, I can't believe I wrote and published RPF - please don't sue me.

Rhett barely manages to throw the truck into park and pull the key from the ignition before he rushes up to the familiar house in a few long strides. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows that his knocking probably sounds frantic but Rhett doesn’t find it in him to care. Three weeks. Three long weeks without any contact with his best friend have taken their toll on him. His heart leaps when the door swings open and immediately sinks again when it’s Mama Sue on the other side, her eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Hi Mama Sue. Sorry to bother you this late. Can I see Link?” he asks, trying to sound as polite as possible while impatiently shifting his weight from one foot to the other. The woman’s expression changes from one of surprise to a warm smile.

“Rhett, honey, it’s sweet that you drove over here, but Link isn’t even home yet. They were held up because his uncle’s truck wouldn’t start. It’ll be at least three more hours until they’re here.” 

“Oh…” Rhett doesn’t quite know how to respond to the news. He has been counting down the days to Link’s return ever since the other boy has left and the possibility of having to wait another day feels fundamentally wrong. Still shifting his weight back and forth between his feet, he jiggles his keys and motions to his truck, “I guess, I’ll just-“

“Nonsense. Why don’t you come in? I made some sweet tea a few hours ago. It should be nice and cold by now. I’m sure Link would hate it if he heard that you came over to welcome him home and I turned you away.” Sue says, opening the door wider and motioning for Rhett to come in.

The rush of warmth he suddenly feels towards his best friend’s mother makes Rhett smile. As he follows her invitation to come inside, he briefly stops right next to Mama Sue in the hallway and waits until they make direct eye contact. “Thank you.” he murmurs, trusting that the woman knows him well enough to understand everything that he isn’t sure how to put into words at this very moment. Sue briefly squeezes his shoulder affectionately and steers him into the kitchen.

“Come on, honey. The sweet tea doesn’t drink itself.”

***

They talk about the upcoming school year, Rhett’s ambitious plans for basketball season and the latest news about the other members of the McLaughlin family until Rhett’s second glass of sweet tea is almost empty and he can no longer suppress the yawns that remind him of the fact that he helped his father with renovation work all day. Outside, the sun has fully set. If Sue’s prediction is correct, Link and his uncle are still about two hours away from Buies Creek. 

Another yawn sneaks up on Rhett and out of the corner of his eyes, he can see Mama Sue try her best not to laugh at the gangly teenager sitting in her kitchen, determined to stay awake to see his best friend, not unlike a small kid would try to stay awake to catch Santa on Christmas Eve.

Once he is done yawning, Rhett mumbles an apology but Mama Sue just smiles. “Why don’t you go upstairs and lie down in Link’s room for a bit? You are obviously exhausted. I’ll call your mother and tell her that you’re staying over.”

For the second time that day, Rhett feels like he could hug her. “That would be great. Thank you.” he says. A few minutes later, he stops at the bottom of the stairs and turns towards the light coming from the doorway to the kitchen. “Good night, Mama Sue!”

“Good night, honey!” 

Once he is up the stairs and in Link’s dark bedroom, Rhett briefly pauses in the middle of the open space. He knows the room, the furniture and even most of the small trinkets lying around so well, it almost feel like this could be his own home. He remembers how different it looked when they were six years old and there were toys in every corner and all over the floor, strategically arranged to form whole worlds. He also remembers the time they tried to put up a poster with thumbtacks by themselves when they were twelve and how Mama Sue threatened to ground Link for a week without visitors when she saw all the tiny holes their failed attempts had left in the wall. However, her resolve was broken the following day, when a very dismayed Rhett showed up at her doorstep, swearing that the entire poster ordeal had been his idea. With a deep sigh and a shake of her head, she’d motioned for Rhett to come inside. She still insisted on Link staying grounded for the rest of the week but didn’t protest when Rhett showed up day after day, always with a different game wedged under his arm and a sheepish smile on his face, and didn’t leave until his curfew forced him to race his bike to the other end of town at top speed.

Rhett shakes his head and smiles at the memories, slightly surprised by this sudden bout of nostalgia. His gaze sweeps the room in a more analytic manner now. He knows that the self-inflating air mattress is tucked away in the corner next to the dresser and that it would take all of five minutes to have it ready to be used but his exhaustion from being on his feet and doing manual labor all day is finally catching up with him and Link’s bed looks unimaginably soft and inviting. Still in his basketball shorts and t-shirt, he flops down onto the throw blanket covering the bed and buries his head in the fluffy pillow. A content sigh escapes him as his body immediately relaxes. Downstairs, he can hear Mama Sue talking on the phone, probably to his own mother. He can’t make out the words but her voice sounds warm. He is pretty sure that he hears her chuckle softly at least twice during the conversation. The whole room smells faintly of Link. Nice, familiar, soothing…

Rhett is asleep before he knows it.

***

When he wakes, it’s because of a sudden dip in the mattress to his left and the sensation of fingertips against his cheek. It is now even darker in the room but the new intensity of that familiar smell he fell asleep to leaves no doubt about the identity of the shadowy figure perched on the edge of the bed. The fingertips are withdrawn from his cheek as Rhett slowly shifts from his side onto his back. His eyes are still trying to adjust to the darkness when a soft “Hey…” barely breaks the silence of the dark bedroom. The sound of his best friend’s voice is enough to set off something deep inside of him and next thing he knows, the fingers of his right hand are buried in soft hair and his tongue is dragging against Link’s in slow, heavy strokes. Rhett can feel Link’s hands looking for purchase until they find the fabric of his t-shirt just below his collar. When Link uses the two fistfuls of cotton to pull him even closer, Rhett deepens the kiss and feels rather than hears his best friend moan against his mouth. In one fluid motion, he pulls Link down to lie beside him, their legs immediately tangling with an ease that should not be possible for limbs as long and gangly as theirs. Their mouths meet again, all wet heat and faint traces of sweet tea, until Rhett nips at Link’s lower lip, causing Link to grind his hips into him. They both hiss at the first brush of their growing needs, their bodies immediately seeking to repeat the sensation. Their foreheads are resting against each other now, their breaths falling from their lips in heavy, open-mouthed pants. Rhett’s fingers are caressing Link’s soft skin where his t-shirt has ridden up his side with restless, twitchy movements. He knows that he wants to touch Link. Probably more than he has ever wanted anything in his life. But the words get stuck in his throat when Link wedges a hand between their bodies and squeezes him through his basketball shorts before he can get anything more than a hoarse “C-Can I-“ out of his mouth. He immediately reciprocates, finding Link’s erection straining against the fly of his cargo shorts. Without much hesitation, he pops the button open and lowers the zipper, feeling Link groan loudly into his neck and buck against his hand in response.

The loud noise momentarily cuts through their shared haze of heavy pleasure and brings some clarity back to Rhett’s foggy brain, reminding him that they are in Link’s bedroom with his mother probably nearby and Link’s hand currently seeking a path into the elastic waistband of his basketball shorts.

“Shit, Link, your mom… We should probably-“

“S’fine” Link rumbles, still very much occupied with getting his hand into Rhett’s shorts, “She won’t-“

“Man, we haven’t exactly been quiet, there’s no way she won’t hear-“ Rhett’s heart is now racing just as much with panic as with arousal. He starts to withdraw his hands from Link’s body. What if they are found out? What if Mama Sue-

Link stops him by cupping his cheek with his unoccupied hand.

“Hey. You’re not listening. She won’t. Come check.” Link half-whispers imploringly and punctuates his statement by finally wrapping his hand around Rhett’s cock and stroking it once from base to tip, his thumb sweeping over the drop of liquid he finds there. Rhett hisses and blindly feels his way back to Link’s hips in the dark, the urge to touch him suddenly stronger than ever. One sharp tug at his shorts and boxers is enough for Link’s erection to spring free and Rhett immediately wraps his hand around it, marveling at how it feels both so similar and so different from his own. After a few tentative strokes, he matches the rhythm Link is using on Rhett’s own cock perfectly, occasionally grazing his thumb through the slick moisture that is collecting at Link’s tip and drawing a soft moan from his friend’s throat. Somewhere deep down, Rhett knows that this is monumental. That this is different from anything and everything that has ever happened between them before and that he should probably freak out about it. But right now, Link is hard in his hand and everything about it feels good and right and absolutely incredible. 

As Link’s whimpers get louder and more desperate, his hand on Rhett’s cock starts to speed up and lose its rhythm. Rhett knows that the other boy is close but judging by the familiar tensing of his abdominal muscles and how difficult it is to stay focused on anything else but the pleasure that’s coursing through him, so is he. When Link’s hand falters again, Rhett pushes it away. He can hear Link draw a shaky breath, ready to protest, but whatever he was going to say doesn’t make it out when Rhett wraps his large hand around both of their erections, pushing them together between their warm, sweat-dampened bodies. Their sweaty foreheads press against each other, open mouths sliding together with none of them composed enough to manage an actual kiss. The feeling of Link’s hot, slick cock sliding against his own makes stars dance behind Rhett’s closed eyelids and it is almost a miracle that he doesn’t come right then and there. Link, on the other hand, is already too far gone. His whole body is tensing up, hips thrusting into Rhett’s fist with jerky, uncoordinated movements, every exhale a needy whimper. One more swipe of Rhett’s thumb is all it takes for Link to start twitching and spilling thick ropes of velvety liquid all over himself and Rhett’s hand and dick. The sensation of Link’s cock pulsing against him and feeling his come all over himself is what finally pushes Rhett over the edge, his orgasm crashing over him and pulling him under like a powerful wave.

When his awareness of his surroundings slowly returns, Rhett is greeted by Link’s wet lips against his throat. He meets them in a deep, lazy kiss that slowly fades out until they have to break apart completely because they are both smiling too hard. Wordlessly, they both slip out of their shorts and soiled t-shirts, using the soft cotton blends to clean up the mess they’ve made on and between their bodies. Link then makes a bundle out of their dirty clothes and the throw blanket from the bed and dumps it onto the floor, mumbling something about throwing it all into the washer in the morning. 

When they finally slip under the covers in clean boxers from the bottom drawer of Link’s dresser, they automatically assume the same position as earlier. Lying on their sides, facing each other, with their legs perfectly tangled. For a long time, they just look at each other. Then, Rhett brings his hand up and drags his thumb along Link’s jaw, his fingertips sliding into the still slightly damp hair at the base of his neck. 

“I missed you” he simply states.

A soft laugh bubbles out of Link before he can contain it. “I gathered as much when you shoved your tongue down my throat.”

Rhett grins apologetically and squirms a little. Something is telling him that this was not the last time he’d ever hear that line from Link.

Then Link’s fingertips are at his cheek, caressing his skin and the soft stubble that still refuses to grow into an actual beard, and he softly admits, “I missed you, too. So damn much.”

Rhett pulls Link closer and feels the other boy tuck his head under his chin. The content sigh that follows is the last thing he hears before he falls asleep.

***

This time, Rhett wakes up to the sound of Mama Sue’s car starting in the driveway below the window. He blinks a few times and concludes that, judging by the pale morning light coming in from the window, tinting the entire room in cool shades of blue and grey, she must be leaving for work. He would never admit it out loud but lying here in his best friends bedroom in the absolute quiet of the early morning, listening to Link’s deep breathing and watching the light slowly change has been something that he has loved doing for as long as he can remember. The familiarity of it all is soothing, until he becomes more and more aware of the parts that aren’t usually part of the routine. 

Like the fact that Link’s body is currently resting half on top of his.

Like the fact that the room still smells faintly of sex and stale sweat. 

Like the fact that he is pretty sure he can feel the outline of Link’s half-hard dick pressing against his thigh.

The longer he thinks about the previous night, the more restless he becomes. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that something shifted between him and his best friend when they finally reunited in the dark after not speaking or seeing each other for three weeks. Rhett still doesn’t quite know what made him kiss Link like that. It was not something they usually did. Hell, it wasn’t even something that he had allowed himself to really consider before last night. All he knows is that it felt right and good and wonderful and that he loved every minute of it. Just when he is hit by the gut-punching possibility that Link might not feel the same way, his thoughts are interrupted by the other boy stirring at his side.

For a few moments, his brain goes into overdrive. What if Link regrets what they did? What if he wants to pretend it never happened? Or worse, what if he is disgusted and never wants to see him again? Link’s dark, tousled hair moves and Rhett braces himself for the look of horror on his face. But when Link’s face finally comes into view, his blue eyes are bright and warm. When they make eye contact, Rhett sees a slightly bashful smile and the sweetest hint of a blush spread on his friend’s face.

“Mornin’” Link rumbles in a slightly raspy voice and Rhett suddenly needs to hide his face in Link’s hair and press a kiss to the top of his head, knowing that his voice wouldn’t carry past the lump in his throat for the next minute or so. Link doesn’t seem to mind. He merely snuggles closer and wraps his arm tighter around Rhett’s waist. After all, they have not only three weeks but more than a decade of physical contact to catch up on.

**Author's Note:**

> Let's talk about that....?
> 
> ...actually... let's maybe NOT talk about that...
> 
> ...ever again.


End file.
